ur party
foolishly left his window open while he had his light on; a pistol shot
from the police drew attention to the fact, and the entire electric
light of the hotel was immediately cut off.

In the day time great numbers of the population would leave the city and
go out in the suburbs on the safe side to watch the combat, returning at
night to their homes to see what destruction had been occasioned and, if
possible, to get a night's rest. I had a large quantity of tobacco with
me, which was received by the troops and by the civilians with great
joy, for they had seen none for a month, the Germans having taken
everything.

While the commercial part of the city had been absolutely destroyed, in
other parts one would find places where stray shells had fallen, doing
great damage. It all seemed absolutely ruthless and useless. The cure of
the cathedral told me that the Germans during their occupation had
established an observation post in the north tower with an electric
searchlight. This they took away with them, and some of the French
officers, during the first days of reoccupation, occasionally went up
there to have a look, but the cure had strongly objected and they had
given it up.

I know that the two days that I was there nobody but myself went into
the tower and I did so unbeknown to the authorities, being very careful
not to show myself, as I was assured it would draw fire if the Germans
saw anybody moving about on it. I think, myself, that this is an
exaggeration, as their line of observation must be at least seven or
eight miles removed and at that distance, even with a very strong glass,
it would be almost impossible to distinguish a human silhouette.

We left Rheims at 7 o'clock on Monday morning, proceeding to
Villers-Cotterets and stopping at Lafere-en-Tardenois, which was the
headquarters of the English. Here there were great quantities of
automobiles and considerable commotion that it was his honest opinion
that this was not the case. The village had been bombarded before the
arrival of the Germans, and the Mayor had taken refuge in the cellar of
the Mairie. When the Germans arrived at about 3 o'clock they dragged him
out and took him to a little place about three kilometers from Senlis,
where he is supposed to have been questioned, together with other
hostages. At 10 o'clock that night he was shot and buried where he fell.

The next day seven other hostages were shot in view of the fact that
some c